Stargate Hastings

Epilogue: Part 2 of 2

The Stamford estate, Earth.

During the trip back to earth, Richard had avoided speaking with Joseph Hammond. He had instead tried to learn what it was the shapeshifting woman had asked Janus, regarding his cousin. Janus had refused to speak of it; Telling him, that it was a matter he would only discuss with her. From what he had been able to get out of him, he suspected Janus had been complicit in some way regarding the death of her husband, and Richard's childhood friend, Sebastian. He had not told him that was the case, but when Richard had straight out asked him if that was so; Janus had ended the conversation by claiming to be tired.

Janus was now in the cell James Elden had once occupied, and could be dealt with when his cousin returned. Joseph was an entirely different problem, and was most definitely one of his own making. He had chosen him precisely because he was a man who would do the right thing, rather than that which was expected of him. He could hardly be angry with him for doing what he was recruited to do; Only he had not expected the man to commit treason, whilst doing it. It would depend greatly on his explanation for said treason, whether he would face the consequences for it or not.

He was sat in his office on the estate proper, waiting for Joseph to be bought up from his own cell. He did not like having him detained like this, but until they had spoken about the matter. Richard could not afford Joseph discussing it with anybody else; Not if he was to salvage the man's reputation. He could dismiss his incarceration as a precautionary measure, by claiming Joseph was alone for a short time with one of the Jaffa. That was if his explanation for his actions were satisfactory or at the very least, understandable.

He had already decided that he did not want Joseph Hammond to be punished for his betrayal, he did not deserve to die for having a conscience. He needed to learn his motives so he could decide whether Joseph's future still lay with the Stargate operation or elsewhere. Bedsides that, the Hastings family had no right to take the high ground, concerning matters of treason. There was also the issue of the repository of knowledge, that Joseph was currently the only person with access to. Joseph had already told his uncle Robert, that he had instructed Larry to make it possible for Joseph to hand over control of the device to another, as he had no intention of using it as a means to escape punishment. Richard suspected Larry had meant him to do precisely that, but Joseph Hammond was too honourable a man to hide from his responsibility; Which was again, the reason he had chosen him to begin with.

The door knocked then. Richard composed himself, before ringing the bell for them to enter. The bells he thought to himself, perhaps I will keep them as a reminder of the dark times. The door opened and both Robert Parker and Joseph Hammond entered; Only his uncle went to leave as soon as Joseph was through the door. "Will you not be staying Uncle?". He asked out of surprise, as his uncle was technically in command of the entire operation now, and should be here for this matter.

Robert smiled, before replying . "Oh, I believe I already know what he is going to tell you, and if I am still in command here nephew?". He asked. When Richard nodded that he was, he continued. "My orders are, for you to do what you have become very efficient at, and make up a pack of lies". He then turned to leave, but before he did; He turned back around and said. "Now if you do not mind, I have a granddaughter waiting for me, and a grandson that I am certain will be relieved to see me!".

Richard had risen from his seat when they had entered the room; He was amazed by how strong his muscles had become, because of the suit Janus had provided him. Richard asked Joseph to take a seat, but remained standing himself. He was not trying to intimidate the man, he was just sick of sitting down. "I believe that I already know your motivations for doing what you did, and I doubt that you could have stopped them even if you wanted to". He told Joseph.

Joseph shook his head slightly, before replying. "I very much doubt that Sir!". When Richard looked confused by his statement, Joseph added. "That you know the motives for my actions, that is".

"Then perhaps you could enlighten me?". Richard replied, suddenly getting the urge to sit back down.

"I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter first, if you don't mind; For curiosity's sake of course". Replied Joseph.

Richard suddenly felt like he was the one being judged, but answered him anyway. "You are not a man who seeks out war Joseph; One of the many reasons you were chosen for this position. If you and James had approached me with what Larry intended to do, I would have done the same as yourself; It was never my intention to get innocent people killed. If given another option, I would have taken it!".

"He was right about you!". Joseph replied.

"Who, James?". Richard asked in reply.

"He told me that you would try to justify your actions, while taking no responsibility for them. He also told me that you made a far better soldier in the field, than you were a General behind a desk; That you would never, have considered spending the men under your command's lives so easily!". Joseph accused him.

"I spent no lives?". Richard both stated, and asked for clarity.

"Only because of the intervention of the one person you did get killed!". Joseph replied cryptically. He wanted his former employer to realise the point he was making, for himself.

When Richard did not reply. Joseph suspected it was because it was finally dawning on him, so he decided to help him along a little. "If we had gone to war with these false Gods! More would have been killed if we had won that war, than if we had lost it! If victorious many worlds would have lost people, but if we were overwhelmed quickly, only one world would have been decimated; Ours!". He let his words sink in a moment, before continuing. "I was completely in agreement with you concerning the Gau'auld, and the human beings enslaved by them; That was until I took your advice, and went to speak with Mr Elden. I am told, that our entire conversation lasted only seconds, but I can assure you that I was talking to both Larry and Jim, for several hours!". Joseph told him. With a look on his face that made it clear, that he still did not completely believe what he had been told about the amount of time, that had passed.

When Richard had first been informed of the existence of the Stargate, it had given him a new lease on life; It had given him a reason to go on, a purpose. He had truly believed, that what he was attempting to achieve was not only the right thing to do, but that common decency demanded it! If not for his illness and lingering death, he was certain that he would have seen the short sightedness of his actions. Slowly the realisation of what he had become, what he had almost done dawned on him. When it did, he could barely look Joseph in the eyes; although he did keep his eyes locked on the man in front of him, as he was still an English gentleman.

The look he saw on Joseph Hammond's face, changed from an accusatory look, into one of sympathy. "It was not your fault, not one bit of it!". Joseph told him.

"Excuse me?". Richard asked in reply.

"You still do not understand what you and your family have been all these years, do you?". Joseph asked him.

Richard thought about that for a moment. He had been blinded by the promise of advanced technology, not to mention the fact he could once more walk and dare to dream of one day fathering a child with his wife; The woman he believed he was destined to make a widow, rather than a mother. He and his uncle had discussed the matter briefly, with his uncle remaining tight lipped concerning his own thoughts on the matter. The one word his uncle had muttered under his breath had been. 'Puppets!'. He had also given Richard the distinct impression, that he did not trust Janus!

"Puppets!". He eventually answered Joseph.

"Now, you understand my motives Sir". Stated Joseph.

"I am not certain that I do! You have committed treason Joseph; You do understand the seriousness of that crime, the punishment?". Richard asked him.

Although Joseph Hammond was not a citizen of the British empire, he was currently in the direct employment of the Queen herself; Which meant he had sworn an oath of loyalty to her. The sentence of death would most likely not be carried out, but his own government may not look too kindly on the matter, and carry out the sentence themselves. Joseph had made enough enemies when a Senator, that could make that scenario a reality! Except. "Treason? I have committed no act of treason sir! Only that of a patriot or whatever word they come up with to describe someone dedicated to their world, and not just a single nation!". Joseph said proudly.

Richard could not believe what he was hearing, was the man so naive? "Surely you understand that her majesty will not see it that way Joseph. You helped a prisoner escape custody, not to mention the loss of the city sized vessel now under the control of a potential enemy, and before you ask. No I do not believe the Tok'ra are a threat, but her majesty may believe otherwise; Especially when I inform her, that they have landed said vessel on the dark side of the moon, and have a Stargate that can overrule our own if they choose to". He exclaimed.

Joseph then countered. "The Tok'ra will not be there permanently, and the vessel was never Janus's to give. The contraption Larry built for us will one day enable us to build our own space faring vessels, a far more valuable possession than a single or even a fleet of vessels, that we have no comprehension of building for ourselves. As for my helping your friend escape custody! I was merely preventing a man under my command from getting himself hurt; I am told those weapons are extremely painful. You have stated yourself, that there was nothing I could have done to prevent that from happening; Did you not?". He asked ironically.

Richard almost laughed out loud, but instead took a moment to analyse Joseph's part in what had just happened more closely. The only thing he had said throughout the summit, was concerning Oberoth and the vessel that had arrived in the Sol system; He had not said much else for the rest of the summit or committed any acts that could be construed as treasonous! Even the fact, that he had refused the chance to use the device given by Larry as a bargaining chip, raises doubt about whether he was complicit in anyway; Although the fact he was given the device in the first place, raises it's own suspicions.

There was one piece of information that could be a problem, and that was the confession he had just given to Richard. If he could convince Joseph Hammond to go against his own conscience, he may be able to salvage the situation; Only doing that could be a very difficult task or even an impossible one. "Tell me Joseph, would you be interested in remaining in your current position here or do you see your future elsewhere?". He asked. Deciding to take on the challenge of convincing an honest man to lie; Although the man's life depending on it did go on his favour, he thought to himself; As he awaited Joseph's reply.

When Robert Parker left his nephew and Joseph Hammond, he had no intention of relieving his grandson of his babysitting duties. Instead he headed straight back down to the facility below the mansion or more specifically, to the cell block that housed Janus. Janus had told Robert the same as he had Richard; That he would only discuss the matter with his daughter. Except his nephew would be busy for some time with Joseph, meaning there was no one to stop him getting some alone time with his ancestor or to be more precise, puppeteer! That thought alone made him furious, but it was nothing compared to the emotions boiling up inside him concerning his daughter, and the suffering she had endured because of that man! He would talk! Robert had no doubt in his mind about that or he would suffer until he did.

When he reached the cells, Robert dismissed the two men guarding the prisoner; Both of the men were suspicious, but neither of them questioned the man in joint command of the facility. They felt even less inclined to do so, since the man who shared that command had recently spent time in one of the cells himself; Making the man dismissing them their only boss, at this time! If his nephew had not left orders to not be disturbed, then they may have broached their suspicions with him; That gave him about an hour with Janus, and he was not going to waist a second of that time.

He unlocked the latch, and dropped the metal sheet on the view hole to the cell door. "Stand up, and face the far wall with your hands behind your head!". Robert Parker ordered Janus.

"Robert! I have been expecting you!". He said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I said, stand up and face the opposite wall with your hands behind your head!". Robert repeated a little more forcefully.

Although Janus did what he was told, he still spoke as he did it. "I can assure you Robert, that I have no intention of attempting escape. Even if I could get off of this world, Larry would only send his children to return me to this cell".

When Janus was in position. Robert closed the door and locked it behind him, before calmly taking the several steps towards his prey! "I am sure he would Janus, but we both know why I am here". He told him.

When Janus looked over his left shoulder, in order to speak; Robert gave him a stiff punch to his right kidney, before spinning him around and grabbing him around the throat with his right hand. "You will tell me everything you did concerning my daughter, and don't give me that crap about waiting for her to return!". Robert Parker told him through gritted teeth.

If Janus could answer the man squeezing the life out of him, then he would; Only the man's anger had completely taken over him, as often happened when a person's child was threatened or harmed in some way. Janus did not want to bring harm to his descendant, but if he did not act soon he would lose consciousness. An instant after making the decision to act. Robert Parker was on the floor shaking violently. "I must apologise Robert, but you had lost yourself". Said Janus, while looking down on his descendant.

"What did you do to me?". Robert asked him, through the pain.

"There are a number of nerve clusters throughout the human body; If struck with enough force, they can overload the nervous system. It is very painful, but you will be fine in a few minutes; Even sooner if you relax your body and stop fighting it!". Janus assured him.

Janus picked up the pillow from his bed, and placed it underneath Robert Parker's head. As he did this, he said. "Everything I have done, as been done to get us to this point in time. I will not apologise for them, even if I am willing to face the consequences for those actions!".

"I am only interested in what you have done to my daughter!". Robert spat out through the pain.

"I did nothing to your daughter, except save her from a life of misery! Her and Sebastian were very much in love, but as often happens with young love; It was destined to burnout quickly, and leave them both trapped in a unhappy relationship. That however, was only a consequence of my actions and not the reasoning behind them. To understand those actions, I must explain what it is to be an ascended being". Janus explained.

"Go on then, explain!". The still prone Robert Parker spat at him.

Janus sat on the end of the bed, where Robert's feet lay on the floor, before stating. "Please do not attack me again! I will face any punishment our family sees to fit assign for my crimes; However, I am quite capable of defending myself!".

While waiting for Robert to recover, Janus started picking a thread out of the blanket on his bed. He needed a long piece of string, in order to explain in a simple enough way for him to understand, and also to allow him to recover fully from his shock! Janus had felt the effects of such blows during is martial training, so knew how clouded the mind became from such a strike. Once Robert had recovered enough to seat himself on the bed, he began his explanation.

Holding the shoulder length piece of thread out in front of him, Janus started. As an ascended being, it is possible to predict the future of any living creature. This piece of string is your life!". With his left hand Janus began twirling the string into a ball, until he was around halfway down its length. He then pulled the string tight and continued. "This is you or any other human being, at let's say thirty years old. You have lived those years, they happened and there is nothing that can change that!".

Janus then held up the string that was still in a ball, and said. "This is your future. This can be predicted, until". He then unravelled half of the remaining string, before continuing. "I was able to predict the fates of all of my descendants, except three. Once they were born, the infinite knowledge of the universe ascension granted me, allowed me to make small adjustments to keep all occurring as it should; All except for three of you. The first has a statue bathed in light, up in your entrance hall. He believed that the time was right for the family to take control, and of course it was. The reason I could not allow it, was because I was not the only one who had this ability; A deviation from the course that led to Elizabeth Weir arriving ten thousand years into her past, would have alerted them to the differences to my own fate in the reality she had arrived from".

He took a moment to check if Robert was following him, and found him to be intrigued by what he was telling him. So he continued. "You must understand, that the universe is infinite; Not only that, but the ascended have certain laws, that prevent them from simply spying on people for no good reason. It was permitted for family of course or if the collective were alerted to something of importance. That is partly why they will not interfere now, what is done is done!".

Robert was intrigued by what Janus was telling him, it was an interesting subject, and understood what he was trying say to him; He had been training men to predict their enemies actions using any knowledge they had of the surrounding area, terrain, weather conditions, and even the enemy themselves for years. Even without access to infinite knowledge it could be done. "Who were the other two?". He asked.

"Do you really need to ask?". Janus asked in reply.

"Myself and Rachael?". Robert asked out of instinct.

Janus smiled. "I will give you the first one, but no I never once had to influence your daughter. Rachael is completely behind the cause, she would never put her own needs ahead of the family's. No, the other was your father and if not for your mother, I would have lost him as well as you and your daughter; He would not let your mother go, it was she who refused to let him lose his birth-right. It was Richard's line that led to James Elden; Only when his line met with your daughter's, the woman she had become from living in a marriage of lies and betrayal, would not have been the one we know now or the woman he fell in love with. That was the reason he was able to not only resist the negative effects of the Sarcophagus, but also use it against the Gau'auld; If not for his feelings for your daughter, the Gau'auld that had joined with him, would be leading the attack on this world!".

"You killed him?". Robert asked.

"Sebastian? No, I did not kill him, although my actions were what led to his death!". Replied Janus.

"Stop speaking in riddles man!". Robert said, he was in no mood for clever answers, he only wanted the truth.

"Yes, indeed. My apologies Robert. I approached him in the dream realm, and revealed his future to him; Along with that of your daughter's and grandson's. Please understand Robert, that Sebastian was a good man. He was very much in love with your daughter, and had been since they were children; Growing up he never even looked at other girls in the same way he did Rachael, and there lie the problem. When the object of your every desire is there in front of you, there is no reason to look at other women...". Janus trailed off, to allow Robert to finish the sentence for himself.

"When he went to do his service, they started noticing him and he them. He's not the only man to do that, and will not be the last either. That does not explain why he had to die!". Robert replied.

"Indeed many men take lover's, and then go about their lives as if nothing had happened. Sebastian however was incapable of such deception, and instead would have become distant; Unable to look his wife in the eyes. They would have stayed married of course, but in time even his son would have begun to despise him. I also revealed their future to him, if he was not a part of their lives; The difference he saw in his wife and child, were enough for him to choose his own fate!". Janus explained.

"What other crimes did you commit?". Asked Robert.

"Lots of them, but they will be revealed at my trial. If you do not mind, I require some rest". Janus said. Before standing up, and making it clear that he would not answer anymore questions.

Robert stood up himself. He had gotten the answer's he had wanted, so would let Janus rest for now. The various heads of the family from around the globe would have to be present for his trial, and that could take weeks to arrange. Before he left, Robert said to Janus. "There is one person who may yet save you my daughter's wrath". After leaving the cell and locking the door behind him, he added through the open latch. "She would not be here if not for you, and I am grateful for that". Before closing the latch and sending the guards back to their post's.

End of Stargate Hastings part two.

Hope you have enjoyed the story so far, will post a detailed look at what is to come from this series shortly!